The Leadership Puzzle

The DMI Completed Leadership Puzzle

Leadership is often described as an intricate puzzle with a seemingly endless number of pieces to arrange and put into place. It is a constantly evolving puzzle that is as challenging as it is rewarding to solve. As you add each piece, the solution becomes clearer and clearer.

Recently, eight members of our Home Office Family received the fifth and final piece to their Dickey’s Management Institute (DMI) Leadership Puzzle, and I could not be more proud of their accomplishments!

What is the Dickey’s Management Institute? The DMI is a blended delivery interactive curriculum designed to enhance leadership and management skills in our high-potential future leaders. With a twelve month, multi-faceted approach, the DMI curriculum includes philosophy and strategy with weekly learning sessions, followed by practical application activities, designed to stretch the learners in each of the core competencies, including: Influence; Compliance Standards; Communication; Accountability; Department Plan; Learning Agility; Escalation Management; and Forecasting.

One year ago, participants were hand-selected for the inaugural class of the DMI. Each received a true “message in a bottle”, inviting them to a mysterious meeting at “the leadership table”. This meeting was the kickoff of a commitment to growth, intentionality, accountability, and excellence. Divided into categories, and following the over-arching principles of the John C. Maxwell 5 Levels of Leadership, participants experienced what each of the core competency means in regards to each level of leadership. Certainly, a concept for a Department Plan on Level 1 is different than on Level 4, and the curriculum is a reflection of that journey.

After each core competency is demonstrated on each level of leadership, participants receive one piece of the puzzle, culminating in the fully assembled DMI trophy.

During the DMI journey, six of eight participants received promotions, title changes, and/or additional responsibilities. Since the first DMI group was launched, a second group, calling themselves “DMI: Top Notch” has begun and is currently venturing through Level 3. With Employee Development as a top priority in our Culture, the DMI is a valuable addition to our development opportunities, including: commitments and wins; daily kick-off meetings; monthly evaluations; monthly book clubs; quarterly development; quarterly team building; team lunches; monthly supervisor training; and much more.

Congratulations to our inaugural graduating class of the Dickey’s Management Institute! I am proud of what you have accomplished. Our future is bright indeed thanks to you!